2005 Highlights
12 Jan 2006In the tradition of my 2003 and 2004 highlights, I'm posting my personal highlights of 2005. As in years past, this is mainly for my own benefit. I hope everyone has a wonderful 2006. :-)
- Launched the PHP Security Consortium (31 Jan)
- Interviewed for the first time (01 Feb)
- Launched Brain Bulb (28 Feb)
- Spoke at PHP Quebec for the first time (30 Mar - 01 Apr)
- Spoke at NOAA's IT Security Conference for the first time (04 May)
- Spoke at php|tropics (now php|tek) for the first time (12 - 14 May)
- Spoke at PHP West (now OSEvents) for the first time (11 Jun)
- Made the OSCON Top Ten Tutorials list for the first time (21 Jun)
- Spoke at ApacheCon EU for the first time (18 - 22 Jul)
- Spoke at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention for the third time (01 - 05 Aug)
- Started Ask Chris in cooperation with the Pro-PHP Podcast (08 Aug)
- Participated in the PHP Job Market Webcast (24 Aug)
- Spoke at php|works for the second time (14 - 16 Sep)
- Spoke at NYPHP for the second time (27 Sep)
- Spoke at Boston PHP for the first time (06 Oct)
- My second book, Essential PHP Security, was published (13 Oct)
- Spoke at ZendCon for the first time (18 - 21 Oct)
- Interviewed for the second time (31 Oct)
- Joined the PHP Collaboration Project (11 Nov)
- Launched PHPSecurity.org (07 Dec)
- Spoke at ApacheCon for the third time (10 - 14 Dec)
- Interviewed for the third time (14 Dec)
I'm also starting a new tradition by mentioning a few goals for the upcoming year. The guiding theme is going to be:
Work smarter, not harder.
Here's hoping I can apply that to my life.
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Speak at fewer conferences.
I love conferences. I try to speak at several conferences each year, because I enjoy contributing something back to the community. However, the time required for preparation and travel make it difficult to do much else. In 2006, I want to increase my contributions in other areas, so I need to speak at fewer conferences.
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Contribute more to open source.
My contributions to the open source community generally revolve around education. I love to teach (Teach a Man to Fish), and I try to do so by answering questions on mailing lists and forums, writing articles, writing books, and speaking at conferences. However, I love programming even more, and I don't get to do that as much as I would like. In 2006, I want to contribute more code to the open source community. I pointed myself in the right direction by getting involved in the Zend Framework, and I plan to make my next PHP Security Consortium project an open source tool.
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Do more cool stuff.
Working on Ning was pretty fun, and it made me realize that I don't get to work on enough cool stuff for my liking. In 2006, I want to do more cool stuff, and my first cool project is already underway. More on that soon. :-)
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Blog more.
My blog has become more popular than I ever thought it would (possibly due in part to the popularity of Planet PHP and Planet MySQL). I think that's very cool, and I want to thank those who read my blog by offering more (and better) content in 2006.
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Make Brain Bulb even better.
Although it took me almost all of 2005 to transition my freelance career into a consulting company, Brain Bulb is everything I wanted it to be. In 2006, I want to offer better PHP security audits and PHP training courses for less. I also want to begin offering additional products and services.
Bye bye 2005, and welcome 2006!